Video - About a third of all democracies that have existed in the last 40 years have broken down

'Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.' - Plato

Toilet seats installed in Turkey's ‘Ak Saray’ palace cost $2,200 and $4,500, respectively.

Toilet seats installed in Turkey's ‘Ak Saray’ palace cost $2,200 and $4,500, respectively. (BN).

Tezcan Karakuş Candan, the chairwoman of the Turkish Chamber of Architects Ankara office, shared the pricing information with the public on Wednesday.

Tezcan said “the price depends on the rank of the intended users.”

“Two types of toilet seats were installed in the palace which cost TL 5,000 ($2,200) and TL 10,000 ($4,500), respectively. We are saying the minimum price of the toilet seats. If those are custom-made, the price will go three times higher,” Tezcan said.

The value of a single toilet seat could keep nine families in bread, she added.

Talking about the real number of rooms in “Ak Saray” she said that she's backing the Chamber’s statement that it has 2,000 rooms; not 1,000. Hmmm......'La Folie des grandeurs' While parts of the population can't afford education for their children......'Islamist Justice 101'

"L'Etat c'est Moi" - Erdoğan reorganizes presidency, ‘shadow cabinet’ to monitor PM cabinet.

"L'Etat c'est Moi" - Erdoğan reorganizes presidency, ‘shadow cabinet’ to monitor PM cabinet. (Bugun).

The decree, however, was drafted as a “secret decree,” meaning that it was not published in the Official Gazette as it goes into force, despite having been signed by President Erdoğan on Dec. 9, daily Hürriyet reported.

There were previously four directorate-generals in the presidential office in charge of administrative and financial affairs, institutional communication, informatics technologies and human resources.

With the new decree going into force, the number of these departments increased from four to 13.

The new departments will be in charge of a wide range of affairs such as homeland security, external relations, economy, defense, investment monitoring, energy and social affairs. An additional communication center will also be set up at the presidential office. (In the US they call them Czars)

Reports to be drafted by each directorate-general will be introduced to the deputy secretary-general of the office and then presented to Erdoğan.

In the run-up to the presidential election in August, which he won in the first round, Erdoğan repeatedly stated that the current Constitution grants “executive power” to a president who comes to office through popular vote, just as the 1982 Constitution granted “executive power” to the 1980 military coup leader Kenan Evren. Hmmmm....Another "I'm not a dictator in the Middle East" 'advanced Democracy' as he calls it.